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I'd consider getting a new pcb made with a design that pays homage to it being reborn from the ashes. Maybe a case which shows off the recovered chips making them a feature rather than hide them inside.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Adam.

@yaktaur

3 ай бұрын

Agreed!

@LeftoverBeefcake

3 ай бұрын

+1 in agreement! :)

@faselei7774

3 ай бұрын

Great idea, will be worth the effort!

@sergecaron685

3 ай бұрын

+1

Yeah man, do it! NEW PCB! NEW CASE! NEW STICKER! The -Phoenix- Pit Stop that rose from the flames!

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Cheers Martin!

@XxRaidenxXminecraft

3 ай бұрын

i will add The Phoenix Pit Stop that rose from the flames! cracking it's shell build inside the pit off hell!

@johneygd

3 ай бұрын

I would say NO NEW PCB, why would you if the old one still works, i recomment to only do a new cartride shell and new sticker but not a new pcb, not untill the old one dies🥲

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

@@johneygd the old one only fits in the console slot at an angle due to the board swelling. If I put it in a case it will no longer fit in the slot.

@johneygd

3 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuffahaa well that explains a whole lot, than i guess the ansure is clear, a new pcb with the old servived chips on it😁

Welcome to the Ship of Thesus Paradox Mark! 😁 New PCB and Shell, save the IC's. Use the old pieces to construct a new framed art piece, to keep or to pass on.

The ROM chips are the heart of the the game and as they have survived their hellish ordeal I think they deserve a new PCB and a chance to live on.

The anticipation for the "..... Right now" had me on the edge of my seat. That melted cart at 3:03 looks like a hippo.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Ahhhh! I can't unsee the bloody hippo now!!!!!!!

I’m gonna vote new PCB! Mainly because I love watching anybody competently solder anything, far beyond my skills!!

Dude! You just saved an old video game that was in a fire. At this point, the only right thing to do is get a new PCB and shell.

You're an absolute maniac. You held on to that misshapen lump of melted plastic for how long? Absolutely finish the resurrection! How could you not? Great work as always.

Toast to Treasure. The Phoenix Cartridges… Be a rewarding win.

Go all the way!!! Your reproduction videos a pretty fun.

I cant imagine how it must feel having your life go up in flames but so much power to you for picking up the remains and trying to salvage them. I would probably not have vigor to ever look at them again so I am even more impressed with your videos. Sending only the best from Germany

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for these kind words :)

@jason_a_smith_gb

3 ай бұрын

Yeah, keep going Mark.

I'm looking forward to your Cart of Theseus and likely a few more The fact it works after the fire is a sign to make it new again

I imagine it’s taken you this long to face these items from the fire. Let some good come from the ashes and carry on trying to fix things you recovered. It’s gives you a pretty unique series and I am certainly enjoying it so far. And yes, definitely new pcb and case needed to complete the story.

Save the chips! Let's give two fingers to the fire and bring this stuff back!

I'm frankly shocked that the chips were intact under all that melted plastic! If it were me, I'd make a replacement board just for fun, although I'm not the one who recovered it from my burnt down house. Most normal people would probably just buy a replacement off eBay or something, but we're not exactly normal people.

Time to order a bunch of PCB from your sponsor PCB Way :)

Hell yeah it's worth it. New PCB and a 3D printed shell. Amazing story and a memory of endurance from giving it a new life. Do it!

I think an extension board of some sort to allow easy insertion, with a transparent case so you can see the charred remains would be a nice solution.

It's a win, you've saved the chips! A new PCB and shell under most circumstances would be a "refurb" cartridge. However, 'Mark Fixes Stuff' is well enough known in the retro community that I think a series of fire rescued carts with a special edition label "MFS Phoenix Series" would be considered valuable in the community. Not that you're likely to want to part with them! Any working parts you save from that fire are definitely a win!

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Thank you mate!

@jason_a_smith_gb

3 ай бұрын

Personally I’d like to see a Toast to Treasure. 1. You’ll be able to show if PCBWay do make PCBs and you need that income. 2. You did a great design on the last one and why buy it again if can rebuild it. Gives interesting content. I enjoy watching people rescue stuff and sometimes improve with things like Gotek… 3. Agree with the previous comment. Perhaps you should restore with a Phoenix branding? Then you’ll have a set of recovered carts. Be rewarding…

If only you could get a new PCB in some WAY. 😂 I think you should do a full restoration.

New PCB and new case! It has to be done!

Mark, you have to save it! Those ICs persevered and deserve a second chance at life! Give em a new PCB and a glow in the dark shell with a custom label. It will be brilliant!

Anything recovered from the fire is a win. Anything that still works, no matter its final form, is a win-win. Anything that makes it onto video, and lets me hear about you 'going in the back way', but not plunging your tool in too deep, that's a treble-win.

WHAT??? IT WORKS!!!! Yes, have a new PC made along with a new case and label. Sure, all that won't make it original but the ICs are original so you gotta save em.

Behind your light hearted delivery, you can feel the real pain behind that bloody fire. It's great to see the recovery of the damaged material!

As the edge is swollen maybe you can scrape a small amount away from the mid section from the side, pop a tiny amount of very thin glue in there, then squeeze together until set, maybe even put a thin amount of solder mask on the exposed top section if possible.

You have to continue the repair of Pitstop. Get that new PCB. Think of it as a heart transplant. If a person gets a heart transplant we don't consider them to be another person. If the chips get a new PCB, its still the same game.

I don't believe for a second that you wouldn't want to save the ICs 😊

It might feel a bit like Trigger's Broom, but a new PCB and shell is definitely the way to go, if only for the reassurance that something else has been saved from the ashes.

I really like this series as it turns something negative into a learning and perhaps cathartic process. With every item that you save, it is like a slight win against the fire.

I think a new PCB, case, sticker would be a good success story for something that looked hopeless, but you reclaimed in the end

It must be so heart breaking every time you see each of your possessions that were destroyed.

I would put that in a 3D frame and hang it on the wall... It tells a story on what happened and how far you have come since. A sentimental piece with history

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I have so bloody many carts! I'd need a gallery! I like the idea though!

The first few seconds gave me the vibes of one of these videos, where someone would refurbish a sad looking old vice, hand drill, toy train or carousel, coffee grinder, candy maker, or just something as blunt as a rusty old hammer... Heeey, wait a tick?!? 😆❤

The way I see it: As long as you use the Original ROMs, its the Original Game, as that's where the OG Game is from.

I genuinely felt for you when you mentioned how the smell was reminding you of whar had happened. But I'm all for this being an absolute win, even with a new PCB, that game deserves a chance at life again!

I think I would make a custom adaptor that has a nice flat edge but then lets you keep the old damaged pcb preserved, but would never have to be removed again from the adaptor. Would mean a custom shell too and would be more expensive than just a new pcb.. but hey... it's different.

Those brave little chips have survived the fires of hell, the least you can do is give them a new home and a chance for a new and productive life!

I was really surprised when you finally got the last lump of melted plastic off at how good the chips and PCB looked in comparison. I think it’s worth saving. Is there no way you can make the PCB fit straight like it’s supposed to? If you can experiment a bit and come up with some idea to do that then all you need is a new shell. But if the PCB is a complete loss then at least you’ve saved the ROMs! Might as well put them on a new PCB. Any recovered parts from the fire is a win.

It's a win all the way, to see it working after what it (and you) went through is amazing. Built to last, unlike today's throwaway tech

My first thought when I saw how good those chips looked and how bad the board looked is the best thing you could possibly do might be to just take the chips out and put them in a new reproduction PCB, I say go for it, there's history there even if it doesn't make sense to keep the original PCB.

New PCB would be easier but no fun. My best suggestion is to make a new board with only the fingers and pads to attach wire too and then connect these wires to the damaged cart (think sorta Frankenstein) and mount in a clear case. Bonus point if you also make a stand with some spiel about it and why so you can display it :)

Absolutely needs to be taken to completion now, it had no right booting and working. Great video that.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Definitely a tough cookie! Thank you!

Go for it. Show that awful fire who's the boss.

The ship of Theseus problem is secondary to the chips still working.

IMO a new PCB and 3D printed case is the way to go.

Save them chips ! And I think a New PCB is totally okay. Its the heart and brain of the game and the pcb just the way its delivered.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

that is true...!

Damn the man! Save the Empire!… eh, I mean save the chips.

I wonder if soaking the carts in acetone would help remove the plastic without so much elbow grease. I feel like, in general, if you save the chips and get a new PCB, or get new chips for the original PCBs that it still counts as "original" in some way. Plus, you own it, it's yours. Don't let anyone tell you what you are allowed to do with your own things. 😉 You can also sometimes wet things before grinding them to lock in the smells. If you decide that you absolutely want to try and make the original PCB work, grind the center layer out along the axis of the edge connector and inject some epoxy resin, then clamp it to the correct thickness. You might be able to get it back in to shape this way. It might cause other solder joints to Crack so you'll have to reflow them, but otherwise, it could work, and there's no harm in trying (i.e. if it fails, you can still try the new PCB method.) I think it comes down to, which approach will make you happier and/or which one will be more fun to do? 😉

@2:46 it looks like a hungry cartridge devouring the rest of them.

yes new PCB,

I use something called Sprint Layout to reproduce PCBs, it lets you put in scans of bare boards and trace out the original traces with new ones then export it to a gerber file to have it made, costs like $60 for the full version and VERY worth it, I've done a gazillion arcade related boards with it.

@MarkFixesStuff

2 ай бұрын

That sounds really interesting. Like so many others I use KiCad, and not very well. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel here!

@MarkFixesStuff

2 ай бұрын

I'm trying it now!

@joesmoe71

2 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuff best $50 I ever spent! Though that was a few years back and I don't know what it is now. I recently reproduced a 12"X12" circuit board using it, it's rather fun working with it IMHO while watching a movie or listening to an audio book, it's kind of relaxing like playing Tetris. Kicad is WAY more powerful but Sprint Layout is perfect and extremely easy to use if you're just trying to copy an existing board.

I think it should stay as it is (cleaned up more if possible) as it shows its history and is a unique item. Putting it in a new pcb/case turns it into just another cart with nothing special about it.

Defo needs new PCB and shell. After all, the fact it's original ROMs has to mean something.

Has a Space Jockey aesthetic from Alien.

At the end of the day it is the original IC's that are the star of the show. New PCB and case with a clear window in it to showcase those lucky IC's (similar the comment from @Adam_Boots). Nice work Mark and an entertaining video as usual.

Have a PCB made to save this copy of Pit Stop!

Beethoven's 5th sonata in F key with strong vibrato and a crowd moving performance.

I love the super hot points you make...

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Cheers Dieter. I was going for super hotness!

Have you tried heating the plastic to soften it (not melt)? The glass transition temperature of most plastics is below the melt point of most solder

Did you ever find out how the fire started at your place? I can't even begin to imagine how horrible that experience must have been.

A new board and shell but the original ROMS. So its STILL original. Save it.

Looked like quite a therapeutic exercise - nice that you got it working! I'd probably keep the bare cart and immortalise it into a plastic resin block if it were me...

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

That's a nice idea. Mind you... looking at the pile here I'll need a LOT of resin!

The chips need to be saved. A new PCB to give the name some new life

As long as it has the original ROM chips, even with a reproduction PCB - it’s still the original game 😊

It's look terrible but remember PCB during soldering process it's temperature goes up to around 300 celsius, of course it's short time compare to the long time burning, but the plastic shell really help to absord the heat and protected the IC and other component, for better rescue just move the ROM to a new PCB and have a great chance of saving the others.

yes it will be worth it bring it back to life new pcb, case and label and even a box if you feel you want to go that extra mile in mad fun

John Carpenter's ColecoVision carts.

Hmm, tricky one. Like you said, will it be the same cart with a new shell and PCB ?. But it would be the same code on the same chips.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

True!

Yes you must do something. Its a survivor! I was gonna suggest sonic clean, but a new pcb is easy these days of course. This stuff is what you do 😁👍

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Yes. I need to start designing!

Look, if you don't get a new PCB for those ICs, you're going to need a new sponsor and you know it 👅

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I’m going to have to dust off KiCAD and do some boards I think.

its hauntingly surreal how deformed it ended up. I'm glad these projects however they turn out give a sense of closure, its uplifting to see you try and to see what you learn in the process :)

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Thank you for this kind comment. You know it's weird but I probably would never have bothered playing this game were it not for the fire. Now I'm getting pretty good at it! Controller is bloody awful though.

@SparksNZeros

3 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuff yeah most of our customers use rewired NES pads, although some games insist on the number keys for options i can't think its that many. that might be a fun project in itself.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

@@SparksNZeros Funny you should say that...

Definitely go for a new pcb and case. After all that and it still works, why not? Itll be a nice reminder of how far youve come since the fire.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I think you’re right Paul!

@paulward2076

3 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuff nice one 🙂

Is there anyway to glue the pcb back into shape where it has swollen? What about using your ultrasonic cleaner to get more of the muck of it? Because it's still working, I think it's worth trying to save...

If the carts are made of ABS. You could use acetone to dissolve them. The PCBs "should" remain intact, and the chips will be fine. If the pcbs are shot, could transplant the chips to a new board. (pcbway did sponsor anyway :D )

@MD_Builds

3 ай бұрын

Annnd if you dont want to spin a new pcb and transfer the chips. one open would be to fix the damaged PCB, you could reset the FR4 fibre board with acetone thinned superglue and high pressure. That should squeeze it flat again, and rebuild the damage traces. IE thin down superglue and soak the damaged end in it. Making sure it all goes in... Then put the damaged end in a clamp to squeeze it flat. (put some paper or something to stop the board sticking to the clamp. Something you can work on removing later.

What if you put tape over the contacts, force epoxy into the expanded pcb, then clamp it in a vice and let it dry? Might work and you've saved the whole board/eproms then. :)

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

There doesn’t seem to be much give in the expanded part of the pcb. I think the heat might have caused the damage?

You start by saying that you're sponsored by PCB way, and you are wondering if you should get a new PCB? Seems like a great way to show what your sponsor can do!

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I agree!

It looks like something from The Thing!

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Damn fine film, so I'll take that as a compliment!

It is like the Ship of Theseus. If you replace the PCB and the shell, it is the same cartridge?

Maybe just squeeze that board flat and stick it in another shell?? - Or pull the chips off in case you get an old pcb to attaching them to?

Save the chips Mark!

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I think the vote is going that way!

the face also looks like it's inhaling the cart below...😁😁

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

A soul sucker... Argh. Can't unsee that now!

@gabriellecomeau2338

3 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuff yea sorry !

I think we both know what needs to be done to this cart now...... 😂...... So I will wait for the next episode when you make a new pcb for it..... 😂 😂

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

haha!

mate I am just waiting for the video intro where you go ".. and we're going to do this ......... next week. Bye"

It looks like part of the scenery from aliens 😮. Going at it from behind, FNAAR, FNAAR. Personally I would leave as is, but its your cart mate.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Ta DaveyBaby

Might a soldering fume-extractor fan (maybe with a carbon filter) help with the distressing smells when cutting the burned / melted plastic, if you're likely to be doing more of this sort of work?

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I have one! A Hakko with a carbon filter as you say. I just didn't think to... switch it on... D'oh! Thanks Matt!

hmm, the classic Ship of Theseus thought experiment. If you replace all the parts, is it still the same thing as it originally was? Personally the ICs are the most important thing here, I have no problem with a replacement PCB and case. in fact that would be a fun design project anyway!

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Trigger’s Broom indeed!

Is it worth being rescued? No. Should You do it? Hecking yes! *lol* Might be fun for You to do. Will be fun for us to watch ^_°

And they said that those Roms can only be burned once! (Sorry for the bad joke I see myself out)

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

🔥😉😁

Mark I'd have been tempted to use a hot air station to soften the melted plastic... might have made removing a little easier. Steve.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I was tempted also, but it REALLY smells awful even with the heat from the cutting disc.

@pichacker

3 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuff Understood....

next time, put in a freezer, and then pry away the plastic.

its salvageable thanks to modern stuff

You should have sent it to the Tait Modern. If Salvador Dali made game cartridges........

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I thought it was a bit more Resident Evil haha!

what about getting a faulty cart and transplanting the rom chips? But if the chips work it's gotta be worth bunging them on a donor/new PCB even if you just then use that cart for testing in future =)

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

I think It's got to be a new PCB but I will need a little while to design and order one.

Would the delaminated corner of the pcb go back together with some super glue and a clamp perhaps? Nothing to lose trying?

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

It's pretty solid where it's swollen.

@peterwarner9572

3 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuff if you have a bench vice or similar, you might find it will squeeze together

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

@@peterwarner9572 I don't at the moment but I'll see what I can find.

@peterwarner9572

3 ай бұрын

@@MarkFixesStuff worst case you make it worse and get 2 more videos out of it 😂

The only answer is PCB* WAAAAAAAY!😂

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

PVC? Ooooh!

@keiiko

3 ай бұрын

*PCB ehm 😅

No, its not worth it. Yes you should save the chips. PCB way for the win, and a 3d printed case. Ya cant let that f'ing fire beat you mate! BTW age 22, 1992 i spent 6 grand restoring a £150 Triumph spitfire. 6 Months of my free time. Was it worth it? Hell no. Did I enjoy doing it, and then driving it for 10 years? Oh yes. Do it matey!

I'd re heat the plastic and melt it off,

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Waaaayy too smelly. I tried warming it

I'd say do it. Order a new PCB and a new case, if there's no commercial replicas available I guess why not use PCBWay services to make you some PCBs and cases for the other cards as well. Print out the label using an image from the internet, and then call the project a success. If you keep on doing these reconstructions to salvageable gear you might give the replaced parts a certain color In rememberance to the fire and to make it clear that these aren't merely attempts at faking broken parts but have their own history linking them together.

@MarkFixesStuff

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Leslie. Yes, I don't want them to be like fakes. Did you see the glow in the dark cart we did?

@jason_a_smith_gb

3 ай бұрын

Brand them in a way that shows you recovered the original chips. So, anyone looking at them knows the chips are originals, just repaired housing. Hopefully can make something universal.